You probably already know of William Jordan of Helston who wrote or copied the Cornish Language miracle play Gwrians an Bys in 1611. I don't think anyone has been able to find out much about who he was, and it would be very interesting to know more.

Kathlovenn wrote:You probably already know of William Jordan of Helston who wrote or copied the Cornish Language miracle play Gwrians an Bys in 1611. I don't think anyone has been able to find out much about who he was, and it would be very interesting to know more.

No - he's new to me. I have not got that far back. But the name strongly suggests a connection is possible.

Both my ggg grandfather and gggg grandfather were named William, and the name along with Thomas, Robert, Hugh and Charles, seems to have been used by each male child in each generation for his sons, which makes sorting out lines quite difficult.

P_Trembath wrote:There was a Jordan family who lived in Breage during the 70's and 80's, but they moved there from up the line somewhere. They had something to do with Goonhilly.

Thank you.

In some ways, it's a difficult surname because it's never been connected to just one part of the British Isles, in the way that "typically" Cornish or Welsh names are.

My direct ancestor Thomas, born 1799, left Germoe in the early nineteenth century to come to South Wales, originally I believe to Neath Abbey ironworks. He quite possibly travelled with his brother Charles, who made a good living at Neath designing and building steam locomotives, rather like another, more famous, Cornishman.

Surnames of the women who married my Jordans were: Trezise of St Just in Penwith (1692); Hockin 1742 and Jenkins (no date).

According to the death certificate of William (1766-1853) his home was at Boscreage, Germoe at the time of his death. Would that be a house name, or a hamlet or???

Please let us know here if you find any further information. It will be of great interest. You can see William's own manuscript here: http://image.ox.ac.uk/show?collection=b ... =msbodl219
with his signature at the end. Printed editions can be found in Google books and elsewhere, with English translation.

Thanks to an American member of the extended family, I have now got one generation further back. The parents of my Thomas were Hugh and Ann. No dates, but Hugh must have been born around 1660; so perhaps only two generations down from Hugh of Helston.

I wonder?

(It would make a great book to write the story of all the Hugh Jordans from this line.)

My GGG Grandfather was Thomas Jordan from Germoe bn 1799. I have information similar to that posted here and more, and am in contact with a few other family members who are also researching this line.
Please get in touch if you wish to:markjordan@uwclub.net